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Azerbaijan Mosque, Azerbaijan, 1999

"Mosques again flourish in Azerbaijan, a mostly Muslim country that saw all but 18 of its 2,000 mosques shut down under Soviet rule. Their traditions muted by years of official atheism, Azerbaijanis are gravitating toward a moderate practice of Islam—to the chagrin of Iran, which fears its people will look north with envy."

—From "The Rise and Fall of the Caspian Sea," May 1999, National Geographic magazine